NEW ICL SECTIONS AND SUPPORT FOR OUR FRIENDS IN ASIA
In ICL, all decisions are made from the bottom up. That means that they are made by individual members in the sections and that all formal bodies (like the Working Groups or the Liaison Committee) are only tasked with implementing them. This is achieved through congresses and referendums. Referendums are called any time in between congresses to decide on matters that have come up in the meantime or are pending for whatever the reason.
The way it works is that all matters put forward to the sections are discussed in the local unions, so that all members can have their say. Then, the section works out an agreement, by whatever internal means they have to do so. Their delegate at the Liaison Committee gets a mandate to put forward that position. Ideally, all referendum results are arrived at through consensus, but there’s a voting system in case this can’t be reached (see our statutes in the following link: Statutes – ICL-CIT).
Coordinating comrades from so many different countries can take time. The Liaison Committee (made up of a delegate from every section and therefore knowledgeable of the time needed for that section to reach a common position) has to work out a timeframe that allows matters to be discussed at the local and national levels. We are pleased to say that this has worked seamlessly and now we have an outcome for this referendum.
There were four questions put forward to our individual members:
- IWW Wisera membership: while Wisera has been participating in ICL for a while now, it was left from the previous congress to ratify its membership. This was approved and ratified by all participating sections.
- CNT-France membership: CNT-F applied for membership at the end of 2024. This has now been granted by unanimous agreement. We are happy to welcome this new section!
- Support for FGWM in Myanmar: one section voted against continuation of the financial support for FGWM, but all others were in favour. At the same time, our Asia Working Group continues to work closely with our friends in the region.
- Statement against the war: this point was carried over from the previous congress, as the text had not been finalised back then. It has now been approved unanimously.
Once again, we are extremely happy to see that bottom-up decision-making is possible and that it works the treat across continents and countries!
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